HI Nikki Bird Resort

[vdoty]

Hi all, We are planning our first trip to WDW the end of May. I have been reading this board for the past week or so and have not seen many comments on the Holiday Inn Nikki Bird Resort. We have already book 2 connecting rooms for 2 adults and 2 pre-teens girls (gotta have those 2 bathrooms ya know!) We will be there for 5 nights and figured 2 mini fridges and 2 microwaves should be fine. Looking for feedback on the NikkiBird....good, bad or in-different....please. If bad, we still have time to cancel if comments are not so good!

Thanks,
Vicky

 

[vald1977]

Hi Vicky,
I haven't stayed at the HI Nikki Bird but just wanted to ask if you have checked the orlando hotels and attractions board? I have seen many threads there on this hotel. Here is one I just found on page 1 http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=498762 . If you get lucky and can get search to work you should be able to find a lot of info on this hotel. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Muushka]

We stayed at Niki Bird a few years back. It was a one night thing because we arrived late and then checked into DVC the next day. I guess I would say that for 1 night it wasn't bad. The room was in OK condition, the grounds were pretty OK, we didn't use the pool. The drive to WDW from the hotel is pretty easy. On the bright side, the breakfast buffet (not free ) was wonderful.

We thought for off-site, the Holiday Inn Family Suites was much nicer, but a bit more $$.

I hope you have a wonderful time where ever you stay. .

 

[CheapMom]

I stayed there in 1998. They have big rooms, free breakfast for the kids, free transportation to the parks. It is a great deal. My sister has stayed there 2x and is going back again next winter. She loves it.

 

[CheapMom]

I think this is also called Holiday Inn Maingate.

 

[DMRick]

You'll hear good and bad, depending on what experience each person had. It was about 3 years ago when we last stayed there. We had stayed the year before and it was alright. This trip, we checked out of All Stars and into NIkki, since we were done with Disney parks. As I mentioned on this board before, the pillow case had hair on it and was very wrinkled, the coffee pot had the person's before us coffee, and there was a trailing bloody handprint in the shower. We has asked for ground floor, since I had a broken foot, and the request didn't happen. We gave them one hour for housekeeping to come, when they didn't we called Disney, got back in the All Stars (they were totally booked ont he holiday and luckily someone checked out at night), and cancelled our ressie at the front desk. Our first clue should have been the help wanted sign. But that was 3 years ago..we just would never stay there again.

 

[inky dinky doo]

In 2000, we stayed there one night before and one night after a trip to Old Key West (DVC), and it was fine. We had three rooms and all were in good condition. I'd stay there again.

Pat

266 days and counting . . . again!

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by CheapMom
I think this is also called Holiday Inn Maingate.

You're partially correct. Holiday Inn has a number of hotels in the WDW area. Among them are:

• HI Maingate West
  7601 Black Lake Rd. Kissimmee
• HI Nikki Bird Maingate
  7300 West U.S. 192 Irlo Bronson Hwy. Kissimmee
• HI Maingate East
  5678 Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy. Kissimmee

Don't confuse them. The Nikki Bird has a reputation for being a bare-minimum type of hotel. If all you want is a room and a bed, this place will be fine. Here's a link to Tripadvisor.com with 15 reviews of the Nikki Bird. I really like that site for hotel reviews. It will also get rate quotes for several sites (like Expedia, Holiday-Inn.com and Orbitz) with just a few keystrokes.
TripAdvisor.com - HI Nikki Bird

If you want more opinions, you will probably have better luck posting your question on the Orlando Hotels & Attractions Board . Good Luck!

 

[vdoty]

Thanks all for your responses, I will check out the other Forum as well. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again.

Thanks again,
Vicky

 

[ahake]

We just got back 1/26 from staying at the Nikki Bird! We stayed for 3 nights, and this was our second trip, both were fantastic! We Priceline it for 26 dollars a night, 31 with tax. Plus a 3.75 day resort fee, which included the shuttle to the parks. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place! I know its not the fanciest of all, but with 3 kids we need something nice and cheap! They let us check in early, we requested a ground floor room, which we got! The room was spotless and big, came with a really nice size fridge, coffee pot with coffee to make, and a electronic safe. The room also had a hairdryer, iron, and ironing b oard. We got there and immediatly unloaded our things in our room, and called the front desk for a taxi, which they were more then happy to do for us!! The Shuttle service was wonderful!! The first shuttle left at 8:40 and the last left around 11 something to the parks, then the shuttle back from the parks earliest was 6 last was 9:45 very resonable and the drivers were great!! This motel has 2 restaurants in it Angels diner, which is typical diner food (good food!) kids 12 and under eat free!! We had plenty of meals that cost us 16 dollars or less because the kids ate free! The other restaraunt was Angels Buffet, they have a breakfast buffet which is 6.95 per adult kids 12 and under free! In the evening they have a all you can eat lobster and crab buffet, 21.95 adults and kids were free. They also have a bar lounge type place in it too,,very nice, good food cortious staff! They pools and hot tubs looked nice although it was too cold to use. They also had a coin operated laundry. They also have a gift shop with resonable priced items, anything from snacks, to deoderant to gifts! We had a great time staying here and will do the same on our next trip, please if you have any questions, please ask!!
Amy

 

[vdoty]

Amy

That's the best review I've seen!! Thanks for the info, I only wish I knew about priceline first. Although, IMO, what we were quoted was about $60.00 per night...wonder if I could go on Priceline now and check it out...i'll give it a try........Thanks for the info.

Vicky

 

[DMRick]

Although, IMO, what we were quoted was about $60.00 per

Although we didn't think it was worth even that..we paid $30 using our Entertainment card...and I know others have paid about that more recently too. What was more hurting, is that our first few nights at All Stars, we had a rate with a code, and when we came back the night we left the THoliday Inn, we had to pay the full price (although believe me, it was worth it). It was very late at night, and we just wanted a clean room.

I really don't think asking someone reviews really helps much..since everyone's visits seem to be the luck of the draw. This hotel has always had about 50% for and 50% against, so really, I think you won't know until you get there.

If you check out the bidding boards, and get ideas on bidding, I think for the $60 you can do wayyy better than this hotel.

 

[vdoty]

Thank, I think so too, but not sure my DH will let me take that chance. Guess I need to get him to do some of this reading...i'm going cross eyed Thanks, I'll let you all know what happens.

Vicky

 

[JohnnyOldBoy]

Welcome vdoty!

I see you read my post in another thread regarding Nikki Bird. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad place, I’ve stayed there three times and it was adequate, although never paid over $50 per night. We’ve stayed at all three His that mad4themouse mentions and found that we liked HI Maingate West the best, but you will find good and bad reviews on it also.
Like you, I’ve never used priceline, it’s just not for everyone. I just like to know all the details before I put out the money. But we did use skyauction.com for our trip last year. It went without a hitch. We rented a very nice timeshare condo for a week that cost less than any of the hotels we stayed at. But, like priceline, be sure you read and understand the rules before letting go of the money.
Have fun!

 

[denisenh]

vdoty, if you get to the point where you may use priceline, or if you just want to look into it, a good place to start is Learn to use priceline with bidding for travel - click here . I have not stayed at the Holiday Inn that you mention but I do know that I have stayed at Resorts in Orlando, Miami and the Naples area for what you may pay at the HI, $60.
With priceline you do not know the details until after your winning bid, its true, but you do name the star level and area you want. It is scary in a tickle kind of way to use priceline but I am hooked. I do book in the conventional way if I need a specific hotel though. And I have goofed it up once, just recently...I have 3 winning bids for one night due to changed plans, but I still, after paying for 3 different reservations, came out in better shape as far as money spent than I would have if I'd booked the room conventionally, even at a discounted rate.
(Priceline does recognize when the same reservation holder is bidding for another room on a night in which he/she already has a winning bid and will "remind" and ask if you want to continue. Just an FYI.)
In any case before you use priceline make sure that you know what you are doing, because you can't undo it.